I have been building my decathalon off an one for a couple of months and are a little bit further along. ( wings are finished and fitted to the fuse. ) My big concern is that I will be using a 1.20 and don't want to add a pound or so of lead in the nose. When the plane is ready to cover I will balance and make any changes to where the radio gear goes. If needed there is plenty of room in the middle of the fuse. I have a few problems with the kit: one is that all of the fuselage pieces are not marked and two is the sheeting on the bottom of the fuse. The plans show both 1/8 and 3/32 being used on the bottom of the fuse. Do yourself a favor and just use the 1/8 th on the bottom to save the trouble of shaving down lite play to match the bottom sheeting. Also the plans are not as accurate as I would like (line widths seem to change to suit the draftsman not the modler.)Four is the wingtips, complex shapes which you are expected to carve from a solid balsa log. Fortunately I was able to unlist the help of a friends CNC router to make hollow wingtips. Essentially stacks of hollow cutouts glued together. Still took plenty of sanding and probabily much more time than just carving the stupid block but was will worth the while. Anyone building this kit will understand. As for the skylight, I am to far along to thoose changes will have to settle for a dark piece of covering where one goes. I will also get my act togehter and post some digital pictures soon.

I do not plan on doing the wing tips any time soon. I'm definietly going to save those for last. I do alright with my planer and I can get it down to where I don't require too much sanding when I'm finished with the planer however, I do agree that not all the parts are listed as such. I have posted a comment about it before with the aileron rib doubler and also had some problem looking for the die cut servo plate. I had to study the plans real carefully because the book didn't clearly show some of the "key" construction methods. It just basically said do this and then go to the next step. The problem with that is one might become confused as to what to do before going to the next step. I've seen construction methods and have some experience with installing the wing with a bolt on main wing spar. (The way I'm constructing mine), and believe there won't be too much of a problem with the wings collapsing on me. Also the fact that I am making the wing sturts fully functional. Meaning, they will be constructed in a way that they will help take the load of the wing spar.

I will be buying K&S aluminum wing sturts and have found some mounting straps that will attach to the wing and to the fuselage.

Right now, I'm sanding the interior getting it ready for me to add some interior work to it. I am so dissapointed about the DF Interior kit that cost me $17 which is going to become a total waste. The seats are krappy, the instrument panel could of been designed to look somewhat like the original Decat and so on and so on... I'll just go to the art's store and get some blocks of foam. The foam will be carved to make the seats and I'm going to find some fabric to make the carpet floor and seat upholstry(sp).

Great being able to watch your progress on this plane. I'll be starting mine within the next couple of weeks - I love building season. Not sure what engine to use just yet. Was thinking of the G38 or the G26. However, I looked at some of the larger Saito 4-strokes this evening and may just stay with glow. If I go with gas this would be my third. The first was a 30% CAP20L (still have) the second was a 33% Kraft SuperFly which I sold to Walt Moucha who flew the dickens out of it 'till the wing buckled. Presently flying a Piper Vagabond from RCM Plans dated sometime around 1979, or so. I think a red & white Citabia will look great sitting next to the yellow Vagabond on the flight line.

where did you get that "piece o Krap" interior kit I'm almost finished with my decathalon and would like to add a little interior to it no matter how Krappy it may be I'm sure I can kick it up a notch!

I got it off of Towerhobbies, it's the one that they have listed that goes with the kit. It's like an optional accessory. It's alright for what it is. Contains plastic seat, wooden instrument panel that's already cut out for the instruments, wooden joy stick... stuff like that. Here's the link for the interior kit. [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXME70&P=7]DF interior kit[/link]

Steve Benesh
I'm going to use a G-38 for this plane. Christmas is coming soon and I'm having to save some money to buy the family some presents and get my girl something nice. I won't be able to buy anything else for my plane until after Christmas. It's ok though, I have some extra time to get alot of sanding out of the way. Mainly I've been filling all the seams and gaps with wood filler, letting them dry and sanding them over.

Hello Again... I did some more work on my plane. I cut a copy of the W2 rib and used it to fill the gap where the wing would normally sit on the wing saddle. I also cut 1/8 light ply to make the wing spar and I laminated 3 of them to make the spar.

I clamped the 3 laminated spars to the table so that they would epoxy straight and flat.

I got both of the spars laminated and dried enough to install. I also attached the wing to see how it would look on the plane. It's coming along quite nicely. The wings droop just a bit but when I install the wing struts, they will hold up with at least 1 or 2 degrees of dihedral.

The wing naturally has a droop in the leading edge of the wing. With the washout and zero dihedral at the spar, you get a droop up front. Do what you do for looks. I don't think there will be a noticable change in the flight performance.

Beepee,
The small degree of dihedral will not affect the performance by any great degree, but it will allow for some stability.

I got my 24oz fuel tank today so now I can finish the upper forward fuselage section.

I was researching some photos of the decathlon and noticed that there is a spine that runs along the sides of the fuselage from the rear window to the front of the empianage (vertical and horizontal stabilizer) section. I am going to get some left over balsa and cut a spine to match the photo. It'll also create more dimensions to the aircraft and lessen it's "Box", slash, "tank" look.

Hello All,
I would like to join this forum to seek your expert assistance.
This is my 1st giant scale and I have many, many questions.
My Decathlon is framed and covered and now I'm doing the mechanics and details.
I purchased the cockpit kit, which was a disappointment, but I'll use the seats and want to put in a full body pilot.
(My wife is also upholstering the seats and interior).
I also have a TME smoke system to install.
But, I can't seem to find enough space to locate all the components.
There's a battery pack, smoke pump, smoke tank, pilot, seats, throttle servo, etc. Sheesh!
I also wish that the RX and a 1400ma 6v battery could be moved into the cockpit area to help with balancing the ship.
The forward area is taken up by the fuel tank and wood structures.

I think this is not going to help you at all at your present build stage, but I believe that the smoke system should of been installed at the same time the tank was installed. Once you build the formers forward of the cockpit there's no way of accessing the fuel tank area, unless you cut an access hatch somewhere from the bottom. All of the equipment for the smoke system would of fit greatly in the cockpit, but since you are adding the interior, that won't be an option. I can't tell you any more as to what to do with your situation, maybe someone else can help you out.

ORIGINAL: cruzmissile
I'm also not too impressed with the "Interior Kit" that the plane recommends.

haha.. I warned you

Quote:

Another thing is the placement of the fuel tank and if you do install the tank you had better make sure it will never ever leak because it's pisotioned in the forward part of the fuselage and completely built around, it would be hard to replace or service the tank.

I solved it by making a fuel tank and ply plate mountable with screws from inside of cockpit. It makes a fuel tank removing possible.

Send me your email address (to bedford.pearcy@natoil.com) and I will forward you a good close-up shot of a full scale SD showing the spine you are referring to. Also - how will you ever get your fuel tank out (after completion)? That is one problem with this design. I have mine positioned in foam and a guard over the rear at the bulkhead. Just pulls out the back. There are always times that fuel lines and plugs have to be inspected, etc.

after futher review, I have concluded that yes, the fuel tank assembly is not the best of designs, but yes if one has the ability to fabricate a removeable tank as Marek has done, it will be easier to service.

Let me take a minute to say thanks to all who have an interest in the building of this plane and to those who have contributed their comments in this thread. This is my first building thread on RCU and it's been a great project both the plane building experience and also the updates I produce here on RCU. If you have any comments, remarks, suggestions please feel free to express them, they could be lots of help to the viewers who view this thread. I will continue to add my comments and suggestions as this building process takes place. I still have quite a bit to go. The only factors that keeps me from building at a constant rate are school, and money. Money being the biggest concern. I'm constatly searching the net for sites that sell at mark down price so that I can get the best deal that will save me money.